Every New Beginning
by ConstantLabrynth
Summary: Summary: I can't wait for series 4, but in the meantime, here is my version of what I would like to happen next. Gwen moves into the castle and her relationship with Arthur blossoms. Merlin meets someone new ...
1. Chapter 1

**Main Characters**

**Arthur/Guinevere**

**Merlin/(OC)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N -I have started a few stories and always seem to have trouble deciding where to take them. Thought I'd post a few beginnings and see if anyone is interested in reading more... Feel free to R&R and let me know if you like and if you have any suggestions, I'll see if I can fit them it. **

**Constructive criticism always welcome ;)**

**Sorry this has not been beta'd so sorry for any mistakes**

**Warnings:**

**This is set after season 3 so beware spoilers for everything up until now Also this is not entirely canon and I have used A LOT of poetic license here as this is my version of what could happen next. There is quite a bit of explaining to begin with so hope you stick with it… **

Background: Uther has not recovered from his ordeal at the hands of Morgana and has stepped aside so Arthur has taken over responsibility for the kingdom, as Prince Regent although has not yet become King.

Arthur was shocked by the actions of Morgana and is still very anti magic. So Merlin has still not revealed his secret. The men that Arthur knighted during the battle with Morgana & Morgause's army (Lancelot, Gawain, Percival and Elyan) are still knights of Camelot.

**Chapter 1**

Since Guinevere's brother had become Sir Elyan, a knight of Camelot, Guinevere had also moved up within the social circle of Camelot and is now Lady Guinevere.

Like all of Arthur's new knights, Sir Elyan had moved in to one of the knights quarters within the Castle. As the knights code meant that all knights were from noble families in the past, it was usual for any visiting family of the knights to be housed within the castle. Arthur had been quick to take advantage of this and declared that the families of his new knights would also be welcome to come and live within the castle. Knowing that this would mean he could move Guinevere into more luxurious quarters and be able to be closer to her.

Gwen had been delighted as she also realised this would mean she was closer to Arthur and it also made her feel that she would be more worthy to associate with him and perhaps their relationship could eventually become something more. This gave her more hope that she had felt in a long time.

Arthur had been quick to make arrangements to move Gwen into the castle and had arranged for her belongings to be collected from her cottage by the servants the day before her "official" move to the castle. The cottage itself would still be Gwen and Elyan's until they chose to give it up. Gwen with her practical ways, knew she would not do this anytime soon as, even for all her hopes, she still had small amounts of reservation about the new life she was embarking on. This meant she would not be quick to cut herself off from her past. However, she was not taking much from the cottage as most of the things she required would be provided for her. Elyan had also convinced her to let him arrange for two new dresses to be made for her that were more fitting for her new social standing. Gwen had been reluctant in this as she had always made her own dresses and was worried that things would be too grand for her, but Elyan had finally got her to concede.

The day that she was to move into the castle, Arthur had asked Merlin to help her and show her to her new rooms. Merlin was his usual cheerful self, and it wasn't until he had dropped several hints about her new quarters being very fine and grand and lavish and impressive, that Gwen started to feel nervous.

"Hang on" she started turning slowly to Merlin's grinning face, "what do mean lavish and impressive? I thought I was moving into the Residents quarter?"

Merlin's grin widened even further, he knew that was what she had been thinking. A number of courtiers and council members lived within the castle, as they had day to day business to attend to as part of the Kings council. These rooms were generally known as the Residents quarter and whilst still being grand enough for the Lords and Ladies that lived in these quarters, they were no where near as impressive and opulent as the chambers Uther, Arthur and, until recently, Morgana had used. In comparison again, the guest rooms usually kept for visiting nobility were considered the next step down from Uther and Arthur's chambers, and it was one of these quarters that Arthur had instructed that Gwen be moved into. Merlin couldn't help but notice that the rooms Arthur had chosen were almost directly below Arthur's chambers.

"Merlin," she said in a warning tone, when he hadn't answered and had just stood there grinning at her inanely, "Tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing," Merlin adopted his 'I'm totally innocent face', his blue eyes wide and completely guiltless. But Gwen knew better as she'd seen him pull this face many times when he was trying to convince her to do something she knew was a bad idea. "Merlin?" she threw him her 'I'm serious" face in return.

Merlin just grinned and continued to collect up Gwen's stuff. "Arthur told me to just take your to your new rooms, and he'll come check in on you later."

Gwen's face went completely blank and she stared at him for a full five seconds before she could get any words out and even then only one word came out, "Rooms?"

"Oh" Merlin looked sheepish, he had been trying so hard not to say anything. "Look forget I said that. Arthur wants this to be a surprise and I don't want to ruin this for him," he looked at her pleadingly, but Gwen was still too shocked to take it in.

"Rooms?" she repeated, her face now a mask of astonishment, "Wha… What surprise exactly?"

Merlin quickly bustled around to pick up the crate Gwen had put her belongings into. "Is this everything? Shall we get going?" he asked quickly, trying to avoid her eye line.

Gwen realising she had no choice, nodded slowly, and picked up the remaining bag she was taking, then opened the door for Merlin. He smiled his thanks to her but kept his mouth shut in case he let anything else slip.

Both of them were quiet as they made their way up to the castle. Merlin was determined to keep his mouth shut as he really didn't want to ruin the surprise, where as Gwen was quiet as she was becoming more and more nervous about what to expect. She had only just about become comfortable with the idea of no longer being a servant and actually moving into the Residents quarter. This in itself had seemed more than she felt she deserved. She knew Arthur could be extravagant in the extreme at times and if she was being put somewhere else, she had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Merlin kept up a quick pace and Gwen found that they had arrived at the castle much sooner than she would have liked to. As they entered the courtyard, Gwen felt a nervous thrill run through her as Merlin turned towards the entrance that led to the Royal quarters rather than the one that led to the Residents quarters. Gwen's heart jumped to her throat and she actually stopped walking as she had a sudden terrible thought that Arthur might actually be moving her into one of the Royal chambers next to his. "No, she thought, "No, he wouldn't do that, would he?" She tried taking a few deep breaths then walked even more quickly to catch up with Merlin. As she started to catch up, Merlin looked back at her, surprised that she wasn't right behind him. He gave her a big goofy grin again, and she tried to smile back.

He led her up the stairs and her anxiety grew with each step as they got closer to Arthur's chambers. Suddenly Merlin turned off into one of the corridors, Gwen stopped again. She looked to her right where the stairs continued up to the next corridor which led to Arthur's chambers, then looked to her left where Merlin had walked down the lower corridor. She took a deep breath of relief and continued to follow Merlin. But even as soon as she got over the apprehension that she was being put into one of the Royal chambers, her heart did another jump as she realised that she was actually being taken to the Guest quarters. This wasn't quite as bad, but was still much grander than the Residents quarters and that she felt was bad enough.

Merlin abruptly stopped and turned to one of the doors. Gwen sucked in a gasp and then squeaked out, "Merlin wait." He looked at her, still grinning expectantly, but Gwen was standing further away than he had realised. Her cheeks were beet red and she looked as though she were hyperventilating. Merlin finally stopped grinning, he quickly put down the crate and walked to her side. "Gwen?" he said gently and reached out to take her hand, "Gwen what's wrong?"

"I can't" she squeaked again, she coughed quietly, trying to recover her voice. "I can't live in there" she said whilst gesturing wildly at the door.

"Why not?" Merlin asked, his voice full of concern but his eyes betraying his slight amusement at her predicament. "You are a Lady of Camelot now and you have to start living like one. "

"I can't" she repeated, "It's too much." She started to back away and Merlin tightened his grip on her hand.

"No, it's not," he said quietly, "You deserve this as much, if not more than anyone else would. You may not have been born into nobility but you are more noble than anyone I know."

Gwen chuckled to herself, "Anyone? More noble than Arthur?" she said as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Way more than Arthur" he replied also chuckling, "But don't you ever tell him I said that as he'd probably have me thrown into the stocks."

Gwen felt a little better and as Merlin turned to open the door again, she suddenly put her hand on his arm "We'll still always be friends though, right?"

"Of course" he said giving her one more goofy grin as he opened the door for her.

Gwen walked into the room slowly, as Merlin picked up the crate and followed her in. She had been in this room a number of times before and never dreamed that she would one day be living in there. She put her bag on the bed, "my bed", she realised and watched as Merlin put the crate at the foot of the bed, "My bed," she tried to remind herself again. She stroked her hand over the bedcover and took a deep breath. "Thanks Merlin," she said quietly.

"No problem, do you want me to help you unpack it?" he replied.

"No, I meant thank you for being here for me." she looked at him affectionately, "And well, thank you for bringing my things up as well." she added.

Merlin put his hands behind his back and looked away from her eyes nervously "It is my duty my Lady."

"What?" Gwen had gone back to squeaking

Merlin looked up smiling "Only joking."

Gwen's heart was hammering in her chest as she tried to remember how to breath normally. "That wasn't nice Merlin" she reprimanded him softly.

"I know but you'll forgive me. Besides you will have to get used to that from other servants, but don't worry I'll always be here to make you remember who you are."

"Indeed" she said imperiously, trying to put on her best impression of Arthur.

"See your getting it. Now is there anything else I can do for you, my Lady?" he asked in an exaggerated respectful tone and bowing slightly.

"No thank you, I'm just going to try and get everything in order, try and make it feel more … homely" she guessed at her own words. Then turned to Merlin "But I do mean it, thank you for everything."

"I'm always here for you and if you need me for anything else, anything at all, just send for me ok?" Merlin held her eyes for a moment so she could see how sincere he was this time. Then he bowed slightly again and left the room.

As soon as Merlin was gone, Gwen felt completely alone. She tried to shake off the feeling by unpacking her bag and putting her meagre toiletries into her new wash room. She then went to the crate to unpack the small amount of clothing she had brought with her. As she took one of her dresses out, she remembered that she had two new dresses being made and wondered if they had been brought up yet. She took her dress to the wardrobe and opened the door. What she saw in there made her drop the dress she was holding and put her hand to her mouth. The wardrobe was awash with colour. Not only the two dresses she was expecting but at least another 10 new dresses were in the wardrobe, and attached by a pin to the first one was a note.

_"The first two are from Elyan, but the rest_

_are a gift from me as a welcome to your new home._

_I hope that you like them and will accept_

_them with good grace, My Lady._

_Yours Always_

_Arthur"_

As Gwen read the message she felt herself flush all over. Arthur's generosity was unbelievable and she had to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. As she re-read the message from Arthur, she also took in the slight tease of the message to make sure she accepted them with "good grace" as Arthur put it. But she knew this was his way of making sure she could not refuse such a considerable gift.

She took her hand from her now smiling mouth and gently stroked across the fabric of her new dresses. As she stepped closer to reach the last of the dresses, her foot caught on the one she had dropped. "How careless." she thought to herself as she bent to pick it up. She looked at the stunning new dresses and then back to her old one which now looked rather drab in comparison. She smiled to herself, never in a million years had she thought she would have dresses as magnificent as these ones and yet she couldn't help the niggling in the back of her mind. She tried to push it away and hung up her dresses from the cottage alongside her new ones. She would have to find a way to bridge the gap between her old life and new life, so that they could sit together as comfortably as these dresses now hung together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N - Thanks everyone for the reviews and alerts so far! It's so nice to know people are interested. **

**This has not been beta'd so sorry for any mistakes**

**Warnings:**

**This is set after season 3 so beware spoilers for everything up until now. Also ****this is not entirely canon and I have used A LOT of poetic license here as this is my version of what could happen next. **

**Chapter 2**

When Merlin left Gwen, he had decided to hurry back to his own room. Gwen had not taken long to pack her few remaining things and since she had not wanted any help unpacking, Merlin had left her a lot sooner than he thought he would. Which meant he had a bit of free time before Arthur would finish training and be expecting Merlin back to help him get ready. Merlin was going to take advantage of this spare time and go back to his room and read up on some spells. Over a year ago now, Merlin had found a secret room in the library. Unfortunately, there had been a Goblin trapped inside a box in the room, and Merlin had naively released the Goblin who had then reeked havoc in the castle. Luckily with Gwen's help they had re-captured the Goblin and it was now safely locked away in the vaults. But after a while Merlin had decided to go back to the room and see if he could find anything of use. As it turned out Merlin had found a few interesting magic spells written on loose pieces of paper which he had been keen to look over and add to the book Gaius had given to him. He was now hoping that he would have at least an hour on his own to look through and perhaps practice a few spells. To his surprise however, when he walked into Gaius' main chamber, he found that Gaius was back from visiting the sick people in the lower town already.

"Oh" Merlin started in surprise, looking at Gaius with a guilty expression.

"Merlin?," Gaius seemed just as surprised to see Merlin back in his rooms, as Merlin was to see Gaius. "I thought you were helping Gwen settle into her new chambers?" he raised his eyebrow as he asked the question.

"I did. Gwen didn't want to take much with her, so we were done really quickly. I think she wanted some space to get used to the new rooms so I left her to it."

"Well, in that case, if you have a some time to spare before you need to go to Arthur, would you mind helping me?" Merlin squirmed slightly, thinking that this was the reason why he was hoping to be alone, Gaius always seemed to have extra chores for Merlin if he was at a loose end. But Merlin also knew he would never say no to Gaius so he shrugged in resignation, "Yeah of course, what did you want me to do?"

"When I went down to the lower town earlier, a few people seemed to be coming down with a sickness bug. I've prepared a tonic for a few of them to help ease the symptoms. Could you deliver these to George and Mabel, and this one to Ethan please?" Gaius asked as he bustled around picking up three separate bottles of tonic.

"Ethan?" Merlin asked,

"Yes, you know." Gaius gestured vaguely as if this would remind Merlin who he was talking about. "Ethan and his family moved into the shoemakers cottage a few months ago."

"Oh yeah right, I know. I've seen them around but haven't really spoken to them yet." Merlin tried to dredge up a recollection of them "What's the family like?" Merlin asked, suddenly sounding a bit more interested.

"They seem nice enough. His wife Agatha and their daughter Emeline were very grateful when I came in to look over Ethan. From what they have told me, they moved from one of the outlying villages that was a bit too near Cenred's kingdom. After Morgause took command of Cenred's army, their village was overrun and so they moved into the city. It doesn't sound like they had a decent physician anywhere near them before so I think they were glad to find me so easily."

"Hmm," Merlin uttered in a non committed fashion, in truth he'd stopped listening after Gaius had mentioned the daughter Emeline. Merlin now remembered noticing her around the lower town several times. She was pretty girl a bit younger than him, perhaps about 18. He remembered the last time he'd seen her, she had been fetching water from the well. She had caught Merlin's eye because he had noticed her long auburn hair swishing in the sunlight. As Merlin tried not to remember the tightening in the pit of his stomach as he had secretly watched her, he finally remembered that Gaius had been talking to him. He started slightly and his ears felt hot all of a sudden and turning to Gaius, he saw he was now looking at him rather oddly.

"You still with me Merlin?"

"Yeah, yeah, he said quickly.

"Well, then shouldn't you be getting on with delivering these tonics?" Gaius gave him a long stare and Merlin couldn't help wondering if Gaius had an inkling of where his mind had been wondering.

"Yeah, Yeah," Merlin repeated and darted out the door.

Merlin walked down to the lower town thinking he could have been spending his time doing something a lot more productive. He walked quickly to deliver the tonics over to George and Mabel first. He had known Mabel would want to ask how Gwen was getting on, so he went there first and excused himself quickly, using his next delivery as the reason.

Merlin then wandered over to the shoemakers cottage, trying to remember the new families names. He knocked on the door and for a moment hoped that it would be the daughter who answered the door, but before he could question his own reasons for hoping that it would be the girl that would open the door, it was opened by her mother.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked warily.

"Hi, my name's Merlin, Gaius sent me to deliver a tonic for your husband." he said as he held out the tonic expecting her to take it so he could move on. However, she opened the door wider and invited him in.

"Thank you Merlin, please come in. My names Agatha." She said ushering him towards a family table in the centre of the kitchen. "Can I get you a drink at all?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine thank you Agatha, I'm just here to deliver the tonic." he said passing the bottle over to her.

"Oh yes, poor Ethan has been feeling very under the weather. It was very kind of Gaius to make up the tonic so quickly. And also of you to deliver it to us." Agatha added as an afterthought.

"It's no problem. As court physician Gaius does a lot for the people in the town, but he really is always more than happy to help." Merlin wasn't quite sure why he was getting drawn into a conversation, so to try and avoid this he added, "I should be getting back though, Prince Arthur will be needing me soon."

"Oh yes. Gaius told us that you are the Prince's manservant. What an honour that must be?" Agatha said enthusiastically.

"Um, yes it is." Merlin replied whilst trying to hide his smirk. Even though everyone else seemed to be in awe of Arthur, Merlin mostly thought of him as a pompous prat and having to serve him day in and day out didn't always feel like such an honour.

"Right, well, I'll be off." Merlin said edging towards the door. As he reached out for it, the door suddenly opened. Merlin stiffened, and for one horrible moment, thought that he was so desperate to leave that he has used magic to open the door. But even as he checked himself, knowing that he hadn't felt the rush of his power which normally accompanied every piece of magic he does, he sees that the door was opened by the daughter as she entered the small house. Merlin pulled his hand back and stared at the girl, suddenly feeling very nervous.

As he looked at the girl up close, he realised that the girl is not just pretty, she is in fact very beautiful. Her long auburn hair frames a delicate and pale heart shaped face. She has full pink lips, and her eyes are an amazing green colour, flecked with gold. Merlin had never seen eyes likes hers before and felt as if he was being drawn into them. As he is looking at her, she meets his eye then her eyes flicker away to her mother. Merlin shook his head slightly as if to wake himself and he suddenly feels very aware that no-one has said anything since she entered the house. His ears start to feel hot again. Merlin clears his throat and holds out a hand to the girl. "Hi, I'm Merlin," he says trying to overcome the strange feeling he has in the pit of his stomach.

"Hello, I'm Emeline." She shakes his hand gently but lets go quickly and again her glance flickers to her mother briefly, almost as if for reassurance.. Her hand felt warm and sent tingles up Merlin's arm. As she let go, he randomly thinks that he hopes his hand wasn't sweaty.

"Merlin is Prince Arthur's Manservant, but he brought the tonic that the physician Gaius has prepared for your father," Agatha tells her.

"Oh, that's very kind of you." Emeline smiles gently at Merlin.

"It's nothing, I often run errands for Gaius as well. He's my guardian so I don't mind at all." Merlin can't understand why he's telling her this or why he hasn't managed to leave yet. "But I really do have to be getting back now so, erm, see you around?" he says mainly to Emeline. She smiles as she moves away from the door.

"Of course, thank you again Merlin" Agatha says as she sees him to the door.

Merlin exits quickly and starts making his way back to the castle. As he walks away, Merlin takes a deep steadying breath. He can't quite work out why he's feeling so odd and he huffs as he thinks to himself "Well, that felt … weird."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N - Sorry this has not been beta'd so sorry for any mistakes**

**Warnings:**

**This is set after season 3 so beware spoilers for everything up until now. Also ****this is not entirely canon and I have used A LOT of poetic license here as this is my version of what could happen next. **

**Chapter 3**

Gwen was putting the rest of her things away, when she suddenly remembered that Merlin had said Arthur would be coming to see her later. She felt nervous about Arthur coming to see her. She was struggling with all the changes and she wasn't sure she was in any fit state to see Arthur as well.

Maybe a cool wash and a change of clothes would make her feel better. Thinking about changing into one of her new dresses made her feel even more nervous.

"No, she reasoned with herself, "I should be enjoying this." Gwen went to the cupboard and looked at the dresses. She touched the fabric of each one, again thinking about how sumptuous the fabric was. She chose one of the dresses Arthur had given her, a pale pink dress with beautiful beading on the bodice. She remembered that on their picnic together last year, he had complimented the colour on her. Gwen took the dress and placed it over the top of her screen. Then went into her wash room to strip down and wash herself over with cool water. After she had finished, she ducked behind the screen and put on the new dress. The feel as she put it on was amazing, the cloth was so fine and it fit like a second skin. To think that Arthur had chosen these dresses for her, made her smile once again.

As she emerged she turned to the full length mirror and admired the dress. It was immaculate, the detail and the fit was perfect. But what was even more surprising to her, was that as she looked at herself, she thought that she looked beautiful in the dress. It was amazing to think that she was staring at herself, and she started to feel a bit silly and went back to admiring the dress. Gwen didn't think she had ever worn anything so beautiful, and she was sure that this wasn't even the most striking out of all the dresses. She felt incredibly spoilt and wanted to hug herself with happiness. She went and sat at the dressing table, to redo her hair and make up her face. She wouldn't normally make as much effort but the thought of Arthur coming to see her, made her heart thunder in her chest and she felt like she needed all the help she could get.

Once she had finished, she pottered around tidying things up and wondered if Arthur really was coming. She didn't want to leave her room just yet, in case he did turn up but she was feeling fidgety with nothing to do. So she went to the window which looked out over one of the paths down to the village. She guessed that as it was around mid afternoon, that Arthur would have finished his training by now. As she stood there, she suddenly felt very lonely and wondered if it was too soon to send someone to fetch Merlin for her. However, as soon as she thought about it, she then felt daft for thinking she could call on Merlin whenever she liked as she realised that he would be helping Arthur now. It was part of the usual routine that once Arthur had finished his training, he would go straight to his room to bathe. This thought brought another blush to Gwen's cheeks and she tried to think of something else to occupy herself.

What was she going to do with herself now that she did not have any duties to attend to. She tried to think of what Morgana had done in her spare time and realised she would probably have very little do to occupy herself. Perhaps she could help in the village in some way. As she was immersed in these thoughts she jumped as a loud knock sounded on her door. Her heart started thundering in her chest in anticipation.

Gwen tried to compose herself, she put her hands together in front of her and turned from the window. "Come in," she called, in what she hoped was a confident voice.

The door opened and there he was.

Arthur pushed the door open and walked in, with his normal and rather arrogant smirk on his face. Gwen knew this was usually a cover to hide his real feelings, and as his eyes met hers, the façade dropped. He had entered the room and his eyes had immediately gone to Gwen standing by the window. The sun was starting to come down behind her through the window so that she was framed in the golden light. It was as if his eyes were drinking her in, and as he looked at her, he realised she was wearing the pink dress he'd had made for her and felt absurdly pleased with this. She looked so beautiful that he actually forgot to speak.

Gwen watched him come in and then suddenly stop as he saw her. He just looked at her for several long seconds and Gwen couldn't help feeling incredibly self-conscious. Why was he just staring. She felt herself flush all over, as his eyes seemed to take in every part of her.

"Uh uhm" she coughed gently after a few moments as Arthur still hadn't said anything or even come any further into the room.

"Errr," he started but still couldn't seem to form any real words. He was bowled over by how stunning she looked and he seemed glued in place whilst he tried to pull himself together.

Gwen came forward slightly, feeling even more anxious, but someone had to say something. She looked down and brushed her hands over her hips "Thank you" she said, "You really shouldn't have been so generous, but thank you for all of the dresses. They are beautiful."

Now that she had spoken, he realised he had to say something. He took a step further into the room, leaving the door slightly ajar, so as to remind himself not to do anything rash.

He cleared his throat and said gently "You look beautiful." he flushed as he said the words, almost as much as Gwen did when she heard them. Arthur cleared this throat again. "And you are more than welcome. I, well, I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable in the castle and when Elyan said you were having new dresses made, I thought something like this might help." He shrugged as he finished and looked away from her for a moment, to try and collect himself.

"Well that was very thoughtful of you"

"If you need anything, anything at all, please just ask." he said sincerely.

"Of course," she replied carefully.

"So, how are you finding everything." he said vaguely, still staring intently at her.

Gwen pulled a dubious face, "I'm not really sure. It all just feels so strange and I have no idea what to do with myself."

Arthur loved her candidness and chuckled slightly. "Well, there was one more thing I wanted to, I suppose, give to you." he said almost sheepishly.

Gwen's mind started to race at the thought of what he could mean.

Arthur took another step forward, "I thought you might need some help, and more likely some company whilst you're getting used to being here. So I thought you might want to take on a maidservant." he watched her carefully as he said this. He didn't want to offend her in anyway and wasn't sure if she would take up his offer. "It's all been arranged with the household steward so if you would like to, just go speak with him, whenever you're ready."

Gwen was astounded by the fact that Arthur had put so much thought into her wellbeing, and that he had seemed almost nervous in suggesting that she take on a maidservant.

"Th Thank you" Gwen managed to stammer, "I, I really do appreciate everything." she opened her hands in a vague gesture trying to convey how she felt.

He stepped forward again, and took one of her hands tenderly into his, "Again, you're welcome, Guinevere." he looked deep into her eyes. He wanted to kiss her so much. Gwen almost shuddered with longing when he said her name. Arthur had a way of almost caressing each syllable. Realising that this could get out of hand. Gwen squeezed his hand gently and let go. "Perhaps a maidservant would be a prudent idea," she said with a gentle laugh. Arthur understood her meaning immediately, thinking that a maidservant / chaperone was definitely a sensible idea, but not actually what he wanted.

"Yes," he agreed with a smile playing on his lips. He took a deep breath "Right, well, I'll leave you to finish getting settled. Perhaps I'll see you after dinner?"

"Perhaps, my lord" Gwen was unsure of what she would be able to do if Elyan had other plans.

Arthur went to the door, turning briefly, he said "You really do look beautiful in that dress." then as he made his way out he said "Good day to you, my lady" and shut the door.

Gwen flushed with pleasure once again and went to sit on the edge of her bed.


End file.
